Every victim has the right, on request, to information about (a) the criminal justice system and the role of victims in it; (b) the services and programs available to them as a victim, including restorative justice programs; and (c) their right to file a complaint for an infringement or denial of any of their rights under this Act.
Canadian Victims Bill of Rights
Dr. D. Scharie Tavcer [she/her]
I am an Associate Professor in the Criminal Justice Degree Program at Mount Royal University and a Gladue Writer for Alberta Justice & Public Safety.
I live, work, and teach in the place the Blackfoot call Mohkinstsis. My acknowledgment of this is only one of many steps towards Truth & Reconciliation. Personally and professionally I support the work that individuals and communities are doing to promote equity for Indigenous and other racialized peoples.
I feel privileged to teach and supervise students – future justice workers. One particular agenda I always include within my curriculum is to inspire students to put compassion and empathy in their toolboxes. I want my students to realize that each of us has a story – we know someone who struggles with addiction, sexual violence, mental illness, or is in an abusive relationship … or maybe it’s us. And how people treat us, how people make us feel, has a huge impact on the way we navigate in this world and deal with and recover from trauma. How we treat our clients is the same: how we make them feel will make a difference in how they recover and how they reintegrate back into society. Doing that with compassion and empathy will make all the difference.
Women and the Criminal Justice System: A Canadian Perspective, 3rd Ed.
Women and the Criminal Justice System: A Canadian Perspective, 3rd Edition is the only text of its kind to address the experiences of female offenders,
Canadian Association of Police Educators
The Canadian Association of Police Educators conference is in Calgary, Alberta from June 20-22, 2023, in partnership with Calgary Police Service and Bow Valley College.
Sexual Violence Policies and Sexual Consent Education at Canadian PSIs
D. Scharie Tavcer and Vicky Dobkins. This book published by Routledge, is the culmination of three years of research into sexual violence policies and sexual
Consent 101
The Consent 101 online module is one of the outcomes from my three-year research project about sexual consent education at post-secondary institutions across Canada. The
Canadian Criminal Law and the Criminal Code: An Introduction
Expected spring 2023 in print and ebook editions. Forthcoming publication with Oxford University Press, my text grew from my years of teaching in an undergraduate
“Good People with Good Intentions”: Deconstructing a Post-Secondary Institution’s Sexual Violence Policy Construction
New research by Dr. Irene Shankar and Dr. D. Scharie Tavcer finds that despite members’ intentions, the committees that construct post-secondary institutions’ sexual violence policies lack
Scholarship & researcH
- Feminist lens to understanding crime, law, gendered violence, and the criminal justice system.
- Intersectional examination of gendered-violence, sexual violence, and sexual consent education.
- Criminalized people and the challenges they face reintegrating into the community.
- Trauma informed care and practices.
- Occupational stress injuries in justice workers.
- Criminal law and sentencing.
- Research Associate with the University of Guelph Centre for the Study of Social and Legal Responses to Violence.
- Advisor for the Gender-Based Violence Collective.
Education & experience
- Doctorate in Sociology, major in Criminology (2007) with the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law and the Albert-Ludwigs Universität both in Freiburg, Germany.
- Masters of European Criminology (2000) with the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Belgium.
- Dr. Tavcer worked for the Correctional Services of Canada in Alberta & British Columbia, as a parole officer, correctional worker, and program therapist.
- Member on the Board of Directors Governance Committee for NextGenMen.
- Canadian Sociological Association Book Award Adjudication Committee member (2023).